A Few Thoughts On Last Night | The Boneyard

A Few Thoughts On Last Night

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1. Overall a good offensive game but one of our poorer defensive ones. Yes, they are good offensively, especially at home, but part of it was on us. See #2 below.

2. The criticism of our Center play last night is absurd. Perfect, no, but Whalley and Carlton combined had a double double and held their own defensively. The problem is the #4 spot. Man, we miss Polley far more than I thought we would. You can't have both Whalley and CArlton on the floor at the same time without sacrificing too much offense, and playing 4 guards and a center has its own limitations defensively, but Akok and Wilson combined were just awful last night. Awful. On both ends. I'm not bashing Akok -- he's a freshman and I don't know how much of it is being nicked up and how much is having hit his wall, but he's not the player he was a month ago. He retains all those flaws and limitations but has stopped with the out of this world hustle and shot blocking. Nor am I bashing Wilson -- it took him a long time to get up to speed understanding his role and limitations and now he has to start over again. But that position killed us. You can think Akok is going to be great 1 or 2 years out but that was just a bad performance last night.

3. Coming back from 15 down on the road and having a shot to win at the end took a lot of effort and intensity, which is becoming a calling card and will serve us well in the long run. We just weren't quite good enough. We had three good chances to tie or take the lead after the last TV timeout -- Whalley's missed 1 and 1, Adams' missed open corner 3 and Bouk's runner in the lane -- and none went in. Sucks but is what it is.
 
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Dream Jobbed 2.0

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Game was lost mid-2nd half when we spent way too long in zone. Per usual we were the better team for 35 minutes this time it was just a different 5 minutes
 
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Game was lost mid-2nd half when we spent way too long in zone. Per usual we were the better team for 35 minutes this time it was just a different 5 minutes

I said the same thing in regards to the zone as we were in it, but I think it was the poor execution of it than the decision itself. Our guys had trouble all night staying in front of them, which is why I believe DH made the switch. Problem was we also executed our zone D very poorly, giving them a ton of open looks from 3 and they made us pay. Frustrating game as there was a ton to like, but we just couldn't get it done.
 
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1. Overall a good offensive game but one of our poorer defensive ones. Yes, they are good offensively, especially at home, but part of it was on us. See #2 below.

2. The criticism of our Center play last night is absurd. Perfect, no, but Whalley and Carlton combined had a double double and held their own defensively. The problem is the #4 spot. Man, we miss Polley far more than I thought we would. You can't have both Whalley and CArlton on the floor at the same time without sacrificing too much offense, and playing 4 guards and a center has its own limitations defensively, but Akok and Wilson combined were just awful last night. Awful. On both ends. I'm not bashing Akok -- he's a freshman and I don't know how much of it is being nicked up and how much is having hit his wall, but he's not the player he was a month ago. He retains all those flaws and limitations but has not stopped with the out of this world hustle and shot blocking. Nor am I bashing Wilson -- it took him a long time to get up to speed understanding his role and limitations and now he has to start over again. But that position killed us. You can think Akok is going to be great 1 or 2 years out but that was just a bad performance last night.

3. Coming back from 15 down on the road and having a shot to win at the end took a lot of effort and intensity, which is becoming a calling card and will serve us well in the long run. We just weren't quite good enough. We had three good chances to tie or take the lead after the last TV timeout -- Whalley's missed 1 and 1, Adams' missed open corner 3 and Bouk's runner in the lane -- and none went in. Sucks but is what it is.
I’m not bashing Whaley, he’s been productive in his role off the bench. I like his energy and athleticism and just what he brings. But JC is simply not performing to what we need. In his last 7 games, he’s averaging 4 points and 5 rebounds a game. That’s not going to get it done. We need a bit more production there from a starting center.


It’s hard to explain the Akok stuff. Seems like he’s in a funk. Definitely not worried with him long term but it is hurting the team a bit right now. Agreed that playing JC and Whaley at the same time isn’t ideal. Either AA or SW really needs to step up here to bring some more production to the front court. If we can get that, this team can finish out the regular season strong.
 
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hello again - is it just me, but when i look at this team, the sum seems to be lesser than the parts. i still expect quite a bit more from the apparent talent level of these players, especially the guards, which are so important to the collegiate game. on a brighter note, who would have guessed that whaley would be such an important piece of the puzzle...
 
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I said the same thing in regards to the zone as we were in it, but I think it was the poor execution of it than the decision itself. Our guys had trouble all night staying in front of them, which is why I believe DH made the switch. Problem was we also executed our zone D very poorly, giving them a ton of open looks from 3 and they made us pay. Frustrating game as there was a ton to like, but we just couldn't get it done.

I understand why he made the switch. Something different had to be tried, but it was obvious after 2 possessions that they were going to shred it. He stayed with it too long.
 

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